Only For A Moment
by Swiftchanted
Summary: He could see her cheeks flushed in the little light that the fire was providing and he wanted to laugh. Clove? Blushing? It wasn't a way of the natural world. "So you're jealous," he said shrugging. What happened the night before the tracker jacker scene.


**A/N: Isabelle Fuhrman is like Allah. I wasn't as big of a Clove fan when we met her in the books, but in the movie I absolutely changed my mind. In fact, I cried when Clove got killed. People probably thought I was insane, but I don't care. Isabelle is absolutely…gah. Flawless. Enough on that subject. Clato has always truly been my OTP, I've found their romance so complex and just absolutely heart breaking. Now that I know that I'm not the only one sitting in their room thinking about the two of them…it's time for a cute little oneshot from yours truly. This is my first jab at a Hunger Games fanfic, so please try and cut me some slack? Enjoy. :)**

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><p>A Career wasn't supposed to be bored during the god forsaken Hunger Games.<p>

Careers were supposed to be on the move, plotting their next kill, always one step ahead of the other tributes, lurking in the shadows with some sort of weapon, already hearing the shot of the cannon in the back of their minds. They were the killing machines. Ruthless, merciless, their wit making them even more dangerous next to the fact that they were skilled with a weapon, the stained blood on their fingers and caked underneath their fingernails. They were killers. Every year, the Career alliance was always stalking the arena, planning something even as they watched the sky for the fallen tributes-most of which had fallen at their hand-every night. The Careers were always doing something.

This year, the Careers were sitting under a tree doing absolutely _nothing_.

Mind you, it had been Lover Boy's idea to wait Fire Girl out, but he hadn't warned them that she didn't give up easily. It was clear to one District Two tribute that she wasn't giving up any time soon and that they'd be under the tree 'waiting her out' for awhile. The next question flowed smoothly into Clove's brain as that thought left her head. How long would they spend under this tree? Even the great Fire Girl had to come down at some point or another.

Clove, at the moment, was beyond pissed off. She wanted to _move_! There were tributes out there that were still alive, breathing, and the mere presence of them being there made Clove shake with anxiety. She just wanted them dead so she could get this show on the road. But instead, Lover Boy had convinced them to spend the night sitting under a tree around a tiny little fire. Did he expect them to all hold hands and sing Kumbaya next? Clove wanted nothing more than to just slit his throat, but Cato had told her to keep him close. Get rid of Fire Girl first and then kill him. He'd probably beg for them to kill him if his beloved Katniss was gone.

Katniss. The name was like poison in Clove's mouth. The whole star-crossed lovers of District Twelve nonsense made her sick to her stomach. And how had the girl somehow gotten an eleven? She must have tied some pretty impressive knots in her training session, because so far the only thing Clove had seen her done was block one of her knives with her pack and then climb a tree to escape the Careers. And then there was the fact that she had been on fire in the parade. But that didn't mean much of anything to Clove. The only thing that was coming a bit shocking to Clove was the fact that she hated someone more than Katniss at the moment.

And that was Glimmer.

Who in their right mind would name their child Glimmer to begin with? It was just another one of the ridiculous District One names, she figured, but still. Glimmer? Clove would have been embarrassed had she been named Glimmer. Her partner's name wasn't any better. Marvel. Marvel, she had come to realize, was a blundering idiot who could barely throw the spear he'd obtained at the Cornucopia, and she didn't know why exactly they kept him around. Glimmer, however, had one thing up her sleeve, and that was to make the Hunger Games into some sort of nation-viewed sex tape.

Glimmer, at the moment, was all hugged up to Cato, giggling like a school girl after every syllable that escaped his lips. She was making the Hunger Games into the Seduction Games. It was only a matter of time before the blonde bimbo started taking her clothes off and doing the same to Cato. Clove just sat to the distance watching them.

Furious was the understatement of the century. Glimmer was whoring up the entire night, and for once Clove couldn't stand to be in the vicinity of Cato. To her surprise, she found herself wanting to be alone in the presence Marvel and Lover Boy than in the presence of Glimmer and Cato one more second. She had a few quick flashes of maybe joining Fire Girl up in the tree and calling a truce just for the night. _Anything _to get away from the scene unfolding in front of her.

She could hear the quiet murmurs of Cato and the little giggles of Glimmer, and it made her temper flare even more. As she sat, she focused long and hard on the ground. She was thinking about ways to murder the stupid show dog. She'd be sure to make her death slow and torturous, slicing that perfect little face of hers beyond all recognition. Slitting her throat. And then the final blow, directly to her heart. Just the show she wanted to put on. Glimmer's cannon firing would be music to her ears.

Damn Glimmer. Damn her and her little District One perfection. Damn her perfect blonde hair that always fell perfectly and her perfect face that always seemed to attract people and her perfect body which somehow or another had captivated Cato. As Clove continued sharpening one of her knives, with every damnation she made to Glimmer, the knife got sharper. It was a rhythm almost. Damnation, sharpen. Damnation, sharpen.

Looking over at the blonde again, Clove could taste the bile in her mouth. Glimmer was all over Cato. The people watching back home were probably shielding the eyes of the children so they didn't have to see what was about to become not so child friendly. The whole of it was atrocious and twisted knots in her stomach.

For a split second, Clove wanted to jump onto Marvel. She wanted to jump on Marvel, kiss him, hold him very close to her; anything to torture Cato with what he had been torturing her with. And maybe, just maybe, Blondie would get a little irritated since it was clear that Marvel had something like a crush on Glimmer. That'd be the icing on the cake. But she knew she wouldn't be able to. It was _Marvel_. Clove would have to be insane to even want to be within a five inch distance from the tribute.

As Clove stared back at the ground, she noticed a gecko making its way across the floor. Cato and Glimmer's discussion grew distance as Clove focused on the gecko. Never taking her eyes off of the creature, she set the sharpening tool down slowly beside her, holding nothing but her knife. _Imagine that's Glimmer_, the tiny but powerful voice in the back of her head urged her. A malicious smile crept onto her face as she positioned the knife and with a simple motion, the knife had the neck of the gecko pinned to the ground. She then reached for another knife, and after giving a quick look at the giggling blonde and Cato, she threw the other knife, nailing the back end of the gecko to the ground as well. "Having fun now, Blondie?" she hissed under her breath as she retrieved her knives and cleaned them off. Marvel just stared at her as he continued twirling his spear between his hands. "Do you have a staring problem?" she spat at the boy before turning away and facing the fire. For a moment, she forgot about Glimmer and Cato. But only a moment.

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><p>The beeping of something awoke Clove gently. It was probably nothing, just a figment of her imagination. She looked around; the fire was still crackling but just barely, and her fist was tightly clenched around one of her many knives. Rolling over, she could see Marvel knocked out, and something lying practically on top of Cato. <em>Glimmer.<em>

Clove scowled. She'd been having a nice and pretty decent sleep, and then Blondie had to ruin it all for her. Looking down at the knife in her hand, she figured it wouldn't hurt to silently kill Glimmer in her sleep. More peaceful than her original plan, and at least Clove was giving her the benefit of the doubt. If she was awake, there would be more pain. Silently crawling around Marvel, she got up on her knees once reaching Cato and Glimmer. Holding her knife up high over head, she let out a little chuckle. "Lights out, Blondie," she whispered.

Right before she could strike the blonde in the heart, a strong hand grasped her wrist. Clove almost let out a scream but quickly quieted herself. She wasn't giving herself away to anyone except the hand that currently held her in place. In the dim light of the fire, she could see Cato's blue eyes twinkling up at her, confused almost. So the hand belonged to Cato. "Trying to kill me?" he asked quietly.

"Cato, you bitch!" Her eyes narrowed and she began to try and wiggle out of his iron grip. Clearly, he wasn't letting go. "I wasn't trying to kill you; I was trying to kill your little friend over here," she hissed, using a slight motion of her head in Glimmer's direction to signal who she was talking about. She then slouched down on her knees as he gently rolled over, Glimmer falling to the ground. Clove smirked.

"And why were you trying to kill Glimmer?" he asked yet again, sitting up and folding his legs Indian style. She mimicked his motions, the knife still clenched tightly in her hand. Cato reached over, removing the knife from her hand and pocketing it. Clove's mouth fell open and she held her hand out in hopes he would return it, the fiery look in her eyes saying, _I have many more where that came from, and if I don't get that one back, I'll take your precious little sword and stick in your heart. _"I'm not giving you your knife back until you tell me why."

Clove sighed. "Your stupid little friend over there is practically throwing herself on your dick and you're letting her and I can't take it anymore! I want her to just be gone!" she said, her temper slowly rising. It was clear that she wasn't pleased with her fellow tribute partner as he sat there and looked at her dumbfounded.

Cato then opened his mouth. "Clove-"

"_Cato, you were too letting her, don't deny it!" _

Cato sighed as Clove interrupted him with a quick shriek. "Alright fine, I was letting her. But it wasn't like it meant anything." Clove threw her head back in exasperation as Cato watched the girl in front of him. Slowly, a smile crept onto his lips. "Looks like someone's jealous though."

"I am not jealous!" Clove spat, her eyes narrowing as her head shot back down to the same level as his. "_Marvel_," she said with a little chuckle, "is jealous. I am not jealous. I think you should just start focusing on things other than romance with that little _bimbo_."

Cato just stared at the girl in front of him. He could clearly see the anger painted across her face. She wasn't pleased with him and he knew it was only a matter of time before she whipped out another knife and he became her target. But he was onto her. He could see her cheeks flushed in the little light that the fire was providing, and he wanted to laugh. Clove? Blushing? It wasn't a way of the natural world, and there was only one explanation. "So you're jealous," he said shrugging.

"I told you, I am not jealous!" Clove said, her voice raising a few octaves. Cato chuckled. Clove raised an eyebrow as she folded her arms. "Would you be jealous if I was shoving my tongue down Marvel's throat?" she retorted. Cato's face fell.

"That's different," was all Cato managed to spit out.

"Oh for the love of all things bright and beautiful, how is it any different Cato? She was two inches from planting one on you and maybe a little more so you have no room to talk-"

Cato grabbed Clove's shoulders and leant forward, crushing his lips onto hers. She let out a tiny little squeak in shock before quieting herself, melting into the kiss. For someone as big and strong as Cato, his lips were tender and gentle on hers, like he was scared he'd crush her. She closed her eyes, kissing him back. Panem was probably eating every last bit of this up if they weren't filming everyone else. Oh how Clove hoped something dreadfully interesting was happening with Fire Girl. She melted into him as his hands moved up to her neck and held her in place for a moment before slowly parting from her mouth.

Cato got a good look at the girl he had just kissed. For a moment, the lethal and dangerous girl who he'd been sent here with was gone and she was just a tiny, delicate little thing. With knives of course. He could see her eyes twinkle in the dim fire light, a faraway look in them as he could only predict that she was trying to process what had just happened. "Are you jealous now?" he asked.

Clove, who was speechless, shook her head. Cato nodded. "Good." He then settled himself back down, his back to Glimmer. His blue eyes disappeared as he repositioned himself, ready to go back to sleep. Clove sat beside him however, still in complete astonishment. Minutes passed as her mind raced, the little people in her mind running around on red alert.

She then began to crawl back over to her sleeping place before Cato's voice stopped her. "Clove?" She turned around, fast enough to give her whiplash, to see him sitting up slightly, staring dead at her. "If you so much as put a finger on Marvel in any sort of loving way, I'll slaughter him." He then lay back down, letting Clove retreat back to where she had been previously.

And for a moment, Clove felt like a lovesick teenage girl. _Almost like Lover Boy, huh Clove?_

God, she'd been around him way too long.

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><p><strong>Isabelle Fuhrman for the win, am I right or am I right? ;) Anyways, I hoped you all liked it. Reviews are flawless little things that make yours truly. And inspires more Clato. Don't make me have to find Thresh to dent your skull for you. I'd hate to have to get him involved.<strong>


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